Technical Field
The following disclosure relates to a packing member including a cushion for protecting an object and to the cushion.
Description of the Related Art
There are known packing members for packing a process cartridge mountable on and removable from a device body of an electronic-photographic image forming apparatus. One example of the packing members is a packing member including: a cushion including a plurality of gas containing portions arranged so as to surround the process cartridge and each containing air; and a box for containing this cushion. In this technique, the gas containing portions may be broken due to external shock if air is filled with each of the gas containing portions so as to stretch its surface in order for the cushion to well protect the process cartridge. In contrast, reduction in amount of air in each of the gas containing portions can prevent the breakage of the gas containing portions but leads to a deteriorated shock absorbing function of the cushion.
A technique for solving this problem is known. In this technique, a smaller amount of air is stored in advance in a bag for containing an object. After the object is placed in the bag, opposite end portions of the bag are firmly fastened respectively with clips, thereby increasing an internal pressure of the bag so as to stretch its surface.